Doubtful. From the article: “Thus, according to gamemag.ru, who is citing Inside Gamer, is seems that Nintendo Revolution’s configuration is complete and the device is ready for mass production. And since the release date for the Revolution is in May, that gives the Japanese manufacturers 5 months in order to manufacture enough consoles.”
[Thanks, Carmine!]
Dale
If the Revolution comes out in May- will it come out in Japan, the US or both?
Carmine M. Red
Thanks for the recognition Infendo!
Oh, and it actually seems much more likely that if it is true, it’s merely mistranslated. “Gold” implies that they’ve started manufacturing them, but it could very well be that all that happened is Nintendo is sending out final dev kits and has finalized the launch configuration. The Sites reporting this are probably mistaking that finalization of hardware for something more.
~Carmnine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Anonymous
Didn’t Ninty say that they were going to manufacture the Rev in China to save on manufacturing costs? A slight error on the part of the poster, but it still makes me doubt the validity of his statement.
mis
Rev will indeed be manufactured in China. And not to start a flaming war or anything, but Rev’s h/ware isn’t exactly cutting-edge…
In this light, the finalization of Rev’s specs should hardly come as a surprise.
As ever, the crucial factor will be the games that Nintendo and it’s partners will have to ready for launch.
Anonymous
This is the second source I’ve read in the past 3 days saying May. I’m starting to believe it. I’m going to go find my source, I haven’t heard from him in a while, but it looks promising.
Carmine M. Red
I personally don’t believe in a may launch. I don’t think that’s enough time to ramp up manufacturing of the Rev… but then again maybe Nintendo may be just fine with launch shortages, or they might have a manufacturing trick up their sleeve. OR they may launch at a high price to bring it back down to a mass market 150-200 dollars by Holiday season.
I think a June or August 2006 launch is more likely…
But the truth is, we’re all really just fanboys speculating, lol.
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
mis
I really don’t think hardware’s the problem. Nintendo have had a working relationship with IBM, ATI and Matsushita (their partners in the development of Rev) that spans several years – since the time they were working to develop the then Gamecube (codename Dolphin). They’ve also been using China as a manufacturing base for several years – as the GB (in their various iterations) and DS will testify.
The problem for Nintendo, like the DS before it, will be getting the right type of games in as many different genres in time for launch. Nintendo will need to appeal to as wide a game audience as possible. Not only to showcase the improved graphics but also to give a convincing case of the potential of the new controller.
It’s quite a tall order. But I think Nintendo will, initially at least, try to just push the hardware out there into as many hands as possible with a few key games (perhaps Luigi’s Mansion Rev and Super Smash Bros Rev) and rely on the Virtual Console feature and b/c with GC for the first few months.
Wai-Tung Leung
I have no idea how long it requires to produce enough consoles, but I would imagine that if they’re looking for a summer launch with the main countries in the world getting it within a certain time period, now would be a pretty good time to start getting stuff done.